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Dumb Patrol (1964 short)
Dumb Patrol is a 1964 Looney Tunes short directed by Gerry Chiniquy. Title The name of the cartoon is an allusion to The Dawn Patrol a 1930 movie by Howard Hawks that also deals with World War I pilots. The same title was also used for an unrelated, early Looney Tunes short starring Bosko, released in 1931. Plot In 1917, somewhere in France during World War I, the men of the French Air Force assemble to determine who must rid the skies of the German pilot, Baron Sam Von Shamm. The General decides to settle this by drawing straws, stating whoever gets the longest straw wins. The men all draw short straws, finishing with Porky Pig (addressed as Captain Smedley in this cartoon) getting the longest straw. The next day at dawn, while Porky is suiting up for the flight, Bugs Bunny knocks him out with a brick and takes his place, because Porky has a wife and six piglets to take care of. Meanwhile, somewhere in Germany, Sam stands to the attention of his general and receives an Iron Cross. Sam, however, is sick of getting those things and wants a long furlough. Bugs drops him a bunch of flowers and a note. Sam reads the note and finds it not only insulting, but the word "baron" has been spelt with a little "b." A P.S. adds that Bugs wrote the big "B" in Sam's flowers. When Sam looks at the flowers, a bee flies out and lands on Sam's nose, which it frightens him. Angered, Sam tries to take off, but his stubborn plane won't "contact" on cue, and when Sam hits it with a mallet, it won't "whoa" on cue. Sam catches up to Bugs, but Bugs pulls up into the clouds. While Sam tries to get Bugs to come out by the count of three, he crashes into a mountain. Sam runs back to the airfield and grabs another plane. While he looks for Bugs, Bugs comes up behind him and buzz-saws right through Sam's plane. Back in the sky again, Sam starts shooting at Bugs with a machine gun, but Bugs dodges every time. Sam's shooting only ends up shearing his own plane to bits, leaving only the undercarriage which becomes a unicycle when he lands. Sam then takes to the skies in a bomber. After finding Bugs and getting him in his sights, he releases the bombs, but he falls out of his plane and gets caught in the explosion of his bombs on the ground. Sam takes to the skies in a dinky little biplane, which at the push of a lever becomes a fierce fighting monster triplane loaded with machine guns. Once the plane's transformation is complete, Sam switches to full power, but this rips the plane into three pieces, causing Sam to fall and get blasted to bits in the ammunition dump. Bugs then comments he's heard of Hell's Angels, but he never thought he'd actually see one. The final scene then shows Sam (in a devil's suit, under an angel ring and playing a harp) floating skyward. Notes * This cartoon does not fall into the normal pattern found in most other Bugs Bunny shorts. Bugs Bunny is not disturbed from a serene state, as in most of his other shorts. Also, he is the attacker, reversing his normal role of the victim. * This short would be the final short featuring Bugs and Sam together during the Golden Age of American Animation. * Most of the scenes from this short were used for the TV special, Bugs Bunny: All American Hero. * This was one of the only two Yosemite Sam shorts in the Golden Age of American Animation to not be directed by Friz Freleng. ** Gerry Chiniquy, however, was a longtime member of Freleng's unit which animated the short. The other short, "Hare-abian Nights", was the only Yosemite Sam short not animated by Freleng's unit, which was directed by Ken Harris. Gallery DumbPatrol.gif|Lobby Card External Links * Dumb Patrol at SuperCartoons.net Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons Category:Yosemite Sam Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:1964 Category:Cartoons directed by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Cartoons written by John Dunn Category:Cartoons with music by Bill Lava Category:Cartoons animated by Bob Matz Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Givens Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie Category:Cartoons animated by Lee Halpern Category:Cartoons animated by Art Leonardi Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Porky Pig Cartoons